Stoke for locomotives.



' vA. R. YERS;- ST OKER 'FOR LOCOMOTIVES. APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, I313.

Patented 0%.,12, 1915.

HEETSSHEET 2.

' A. RQAYERS.

5mm FOR LOCOMOTIVES. .APPLICATIONTIL'ED MAY 26, 1913. I

I Patented Oct, 12, 1915.

6 SHEETSSHEET 3.

mw amw lllillmm' l'ez'x' A. R. AYERS.

STOKER FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 26, 1913.

I Put entd Oct. '12, 1915. v

6 SHETS-SHEET 4.

msmm.

M I I. *7 I iu l 7 NHL I A. R. AYERS. I STOKER FOR LOCOMOTIVES. APPLICATION FILED IIIAY26, I913. I

Padpented- Oct. 12,1915.

6 SHEETSSHEET s I I I I I I I I I I l A R AYERS STOKER FOR LOCOMOTIVES. APPLICATION FI LED MAY 26. 1213.

Patented Oct. '12, 1915.

- e 95,-;SH T s.

AUeUsTIiin n. AYERS, or

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN J. BEBNET, OF CHICAGO. ILLINOIS.

STOKER FOR LOCOMOTIVES.

Lil-36.264.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, iota.

Application filed May 26, 1913. SeriaINo. 769,840.

To all whom it In (13 concern:

Be it known that I, Aizens'rixr. R. AYnRs,

a citizen of the United States, residing at- Chica o, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stokers for Locomotives, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to feeding-means for boiler furnaces, and has particular reference to a novel automatic stoker for locomotives.

I am aware that stokers for locomotives are not broadly new, but there are many objections to the forms heretofore proposed, which objections I eliminate by the present construction. The principal difliculty'encountered in the old-style stokers is that if the coal on the chain-grate is completely burned out, which is necessary in, order to avoid throwing good fuel into the ash-pan, the fire necessarily becomes so thin at the extreme travel ofthe chain-grate, that under the intense draft of a steam locomotive a quantity of air would be admitted through the thin portion of the fire, which would be highly detrimental to the steaming qualities of the boiler. That is, holes would be formed through the layer of fire, or the bed of fuel would he completely exhausted and otter practically no resistance to the draft. I propose to eliminate this objection by the provision of an auxiliary grate adjoining the end of the chain-grate, this auxiliary grate being separate from the chain-grate and having no travel. provision being'made, however, for the shaking of the grate and dumping of the accumulated ash. By this construction I am enabled to carry a full thickness of fire over the grate, the complete combustion of the fuel taking place on the auxiliary grate. The unburned fuel will be forced off the chain-grate on to the auxiliary grate and may heap or pile up to a certain extent-on the auxiliary grate, thus providing adequate thickness of fuel to prevent the thinning of the grate-covering at any point.

Another objection to the existing forms of stokers for locomotives is in the specific construction thereof requiring too great height. That-is, the top and bottom flights of the grate are separated to such an extent, due to the construction of the individual grates and the consequent size of the sprockets, that the grate interferes with the engine-frame construction in all cases and with the wheels in certain types of locomotives, or is otherwise placed so high in the boiler that the necessary fire-box volume is reduced. This objection is overcome in the present construction by grates of novel construction, so arranged that sprockets of very small diameter may be employed at the ends of travel of the same. Thus,'I am enabled to provide agrate of small thickness transversely.'

In order to secure the smallest vertical thickness of the grate a special construction of driving-sprocket is essential. In my construction I provide a sprocket cooperating directly with the grate-members, and also a for-m oI sprocket cooperating with the links which connect the separate grate-bars. By this means the load is carried alternately by the grate-bars and the links connectingthe same. By this means also a very small sprocket may be employed- In fact, the up per and lower flights of the grates need to be separated vertically only to an extent substantially equal to the width of one gratebar. With this constructiomI am enabled to provide positive driving-means in the shape of teeth which cooperate with the grate-bars. It is possible to employ a small sprocket if no teeth are used, but it has-been found that with a long grate,.the square sides do not provide sutficient driving power",

frequently slipping past the grate-bars. In

any case, a. square or fiat-sided sprocket. if made of comparatively small diameter has a tendency to bind, due to the spreading or wed ing effect in the rotation.

An objection to the installation of stokers to locomotives is the lack'of accessibility for the purpose of. repairs, either to the grate or to the boiler. It will be understood that the grate lies in a plane along the lower edge or mud-ring of the boiler. This portion of the boiler commonly requires calking to prevent leaks, and, inasmuch as the grate is not adapted to be bodily removed, as in station-- ary practice, means should be provided whereby portions of the grate may be re moved in order to permit access to the mudring of the boiler and lower portion of the fire-box. 'It is further necessary to renew portions of the grate mechanism from time to time. v

In the chain-grate as ordinarily installed, that is, in stationary practice, coal is fed to the grate through a hopper located above the grate, and distribution of the coal throughthe level of the grate.

out the full length of this hopper, in other words, over the full width of the grate, is obtained by hand-shoveling or by gravity feed, the coal in the latter case being fed from storage hoppers located above the grate. It is my purpose to avoid practically all handshoveling, and the construction of locomotives is such that-gravity feed is not at all practical, the coal supply on the tender being carried at a height very'little above In the arrangement shown, the coal is conveyed from the tender to the transverse center of the'grate at the rear end thereof and is delivered into a space in which transverse spreaders are mounted. These spreaders act to distribute the fuel over the width of the grate and are adjustable vertically, whereby the thickness of fuel can be varied and controlled over the entire width of the grate. This is an important feature, inasmuch as it is quite necessary at times to provide a deeper fire over one portion or another of the grate. This may be accomplished by different means; preferably conveyors or deflectors are provided, which are adjustable vertically from either end, two of such deflectors being mounted at the sides and transverse center of the grate. Each of such defiectorsbeingmounted for vertical adjustment, the-height of the fuel may be controlled exactly.

A particular point in connection with the chain-grate proposed is in the means for connecting adjacent grate-bars. The links used are held in place by means other than the" usual pins or nuts. In my construction the chain-grate runs between lateral guides,-

which guides prevent the connecting-links from, shpping off the ends of the lugs which are cast integral with the grate-bars. these lugs being the same length as the thickness of the connecti1iglinks with a slight addi tional allowance for clearance. One of the lateral guides is so constructed that short sections of it may be removed from the supporting-frame work, thereby enabling one or more of. the connecting-links of the chaingrate to be removed, which in turn allows the grate-bars to be removed.

Claims covering the fuel feeding and spreading mechanism originally disclosed herein are included in my divisional applica tion. Serial No. 857,635.

.My invention will be more readily under stood by reference to the accompanying drawings. wherein,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a stoker as appartly in section, of the construction shown lateral guides for maintaining the connecting-links in operative relation to the grates; Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the end of one of the guides shown in .Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is a section on line 12-12 of Fig. 2; Fig. 9 is a section on line 13-13 of Fig. 2; Fig. lOis a section on line ll lsi of Fig. 2; Fig. 11 is a section on line 15-15 of Fig. 2; Fig. 12 is an enlargeddetail view showing in elevation the engagement of the grate and the drivingsprocket, the links connectingthe grates being shown in engagement with one portion of the sprocket: Fig. 13 is asimilar view showing the engagement of the grates with in Figs. 3 and 1; illustrating the removable another portion of the sprocket, the links 3 being removed; Fig. ll 1s a similar view showing th-eengagement of the sprocketteeth withctliegrate-bars. whereby the CliTlV- the means for adjusting the same vertically at the center; and, Fig. 19 is a view similar to F ig. 18 taken at right angles to Fig. 18.

Referring more particularly to the drawings it will be seen that my grate is applied to the engine-frame 25 by means of brackets 26, 27, 2S, bolted to and projecting above the frame. Mounted upon brackets 26, 27, 28, and securely bolted thereto are sideframes 29, 30, and a center-frame 31 on which the grate is supported. The frames 29, 30, 31 are, as best shown in Fig. 2, made in sections for ease in manufacture and for facility in assembling and removal. The

end-portions 32, 33. of the frames carry bearings within which transverse-shafts 3t, 35 are mounted, the front-shaft 34' being made preferably in two parts, the rear shaft being made in one part. These shafts carry at their ends my novel driving-sprockc-ts these sprockets being suitably keyed thereto. Each sprocket member is composed of three parts ;a toothed driving part 36, a squared supporting-portion. 37 for the gratebars,

and a similar squared portion 38 for the connecting-links. It will be noted that these three parts 36, 37, and 38 are arranged in different planes and each thereof performs a different function- Part 36 has no supporting function. acting merely as a positive drive for the grate. Part 37 acts, as shown in Fig. 13, to directly support the grate-bars. whereas part 38. as shown in Fig. 12 supports the links. the load being alternately carried by the grate-bars and links in the rotation of the sprocket.

It will be understood that the grate may be ,driven at both ends, that is, by applying gral lugs 40 in place of the rollers.

The grate-bars 4:1, as shown in Figs. 15 and 17 may be of any preferred construction,'but are provided at theirends with in tegral studs --l2 and with the downwardlyprojecting integral extension 43, which extension cotipera'tes with the squared portion of the part3? of the sprocket. Adjacent gr'ate bai's are secured together by means of links e l, these links cooperating with the studs 42. The lower edges of the links and the lower edges of the parts of the extension 43 lying in the same plane provide a continuous flat bearing-surface for contact with the rollers 39 for the upper flight of grates, and, inasmuch as the tops of the links are flush with the tops of the grates a similar continuous bearing-surface is provided tor, the'bottom flights of the grates. At a point inwardly from the ends of the grate-bars, I provide an aperture ll with which the toothed part 36 of the sprocket cooperates. It will be noted that this aper links H. The grate-bar may then be moved ture is located inwardly from the ends, and, therefore, that the grate-bar is not weakened as would be the case if the aperture were made through the end-member. It will be further noted thatbecause of this aperture,

the air-opening through the grate is not restricted, the aperture 41 being closed only at the ends of the grate-travel when cooperating with the sprockets. l have shown the sprocket member as four-sided, for the reason that a grate of very small vertical thickness may be utilized. It will be understood, however, that the construction may be changed to provide six or more sides to the sprockets where a deeper grate may be employed. However, the same advantages will accrue to such construction as described-in connection with the form shown.

The auxiliary grate heretofore referred to, is shown as composed of four grate-bars 45, each grate-bar being of substantially the length of the moving bars, these grate-bars 45 being rotatably mounted on suitable studs projecting inwardly from side-members 46 secured to the side and center membersof the fire-box. In the case of the centrsupport, a bearing is provided at the front end on the fire-box and at the rear on 2. lug forming a portion of the center-frame 0f the chain-grate, as best shown in Fig. 3.

This latter con ection is sliding to compensate for expansion and contraction of the boiler. These auxiliary grate-members are prdi'ided with shaking-means such as the rodsgand lever 47. 48. In practice, the fuel is on to the grate. burning as it is carried along. and is not completely burned out at the time it reaches the end of travel ofithe moving grate-bars. It will then pass on to the auxiliary grate where it will be finally. consumed. This grate will be shaken from time to tune to remove the accumulated ash. By this construction a great objection to the movable grates heretofore proposed for locomotives is removed.

As heretofore stated, the movable gratebars travel between guides, which guides serve "to maintain the links H in operative relation, thus avoiding the necessity for pins or keys. As shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 10, the center-guide is removable, being held in place by gravity, the outer guides being fixed. In Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive, the construction of the center-guide is illustrated. As heretofore explained, the center-frame 31 is made in sections for convenience, this-frame being provided with recesses :9 at intervals in its length within which downwardly-projecting lugs 50 on the guide-members 51 are accommodated. These guide-bars are made in sections, as best shown in Fig. 3, being held in place by gravity. When it. is desired to remove one or more grate-bars,

one of the sections 51 is removed, thereby permitting the'removal of the connectinghorizontally to permit its disengagement from the corresponding link on the oppo-' site end. In this manner any one or more of the gratebars may be disconnected as required for the purpose of repair or renewal. This likewise gives access to the lower portion of the boiler. The coal is delivered by means of a suitable conveyer operating within a 'chute 68, which terminates within a coal receptacle formed by a bottom-wall 69,

end-walls .70 and top-wall 71, the top-wall forming'the firing deck of the locomotive.

lVithin the space formed by these walls coal is delivered by the conveyer, the coal being actually-delivered on top of the moving grate which occupies a portion of the space referred to. Within this space my novel distributing means is mounted, this means consisting of apair of'screw-conveyers 72, 73, the inner ends of both conveyers being mounted on a pin. or bolt 74 carried by a casting 75, which casting is actuated in ways 76 formed in a bracket 77 suitably secured to the furnace-wall. An adjustin -screw 78 'is held by the casting 77, this screw engaging with a threaded-lug 79 on the part 75, the square-end 80 of the screw projecting above the-firing-deck. The outer ends of the transverse spreader-screws are likewise provided with vertical adjustable means such as just described. It will be seen that the de- I fiectors or distributers may be adjusted as to height in order that the depth of coal fed may be controlled as desired. For instance, it sometimes occurs that a higher fire is desired on one side of the boiler than theother and this is provided for in the construction described. It will be .noted also that the bearings 81 for the ends of-the transverse distributers are connected by means of a plate 82, which serves both as a strengthening means and as a means for leveling the fuel asit passes thereunder.

The transverse-deflectors are actuated by means of suitable chains and sprockets 85 connected to the transverse-shaft 65. The chain-grate is actuated by means of a suitable Worm gear 83 connected to a main power-shaft 84, which power-shaft is connected to a small engine, (not shown).

It is obvious that the construction described is'capable of modification in many of its details, and such modifications as arev within the scope of my claims, I consider within the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a supporting-frame of a plurality of grate-bars, connecting-links for said grate-bars, and removable guide-members supported by said frame, between which said grate-bars are adapted to be moved, and

by means of which said connecting-links are 'maintained in operative-relation to said masses.

grate-bars, and another portion supporting the connecting-links between adjacent bars, substantially as described.

a. In a chain-grate, the combination of grate-bars, links connecting said bars, and a sprocket over which said grate passes at its limit of travel, said sprocket consisting of a toothed portion and two flat-sided portions, said flat-sided portions being arranged with their flat sides inidifierent planes, one of said fiat-sided portions forming a support for the grate-bars and the other flat-sided portion forming a support for connecting-links be- ,tWeen adjacent bars, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a supporting frame, a plurality of grate bars, links connecting adjacent bars, rigid guide plates associated with said frame and tending to maintain the outer linksfin position, and a removable guide member at the center and tending to maintain the inner links in position, substantially as described.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a; frame, a traveling grate,

links connecting adjacent grate bars, said grate being divided into a plurality of sections, rigid guide members at the sides of said grate and tending to maintain the outer links in position, and a removable guide member at the center said single guide member serving to maintain the links of adjacent grate sections in place, substantially as described.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a frame, a movable grate mounted thereon, links connecting adjacent grate bars, said grate being divided into a plurality of sections, and a removable guide member separating said sections and serving to maintain said links in position said guide member being made up of a plurality of sections, substantially as described.

AUGUSTINE R. AYERS.

"Witnesses Cnas. F. MURRAY, T. D. Bonus. 

